The Beginnings of Joppa Lodge
On
July 5, 1867, three years before Virginia was readmitted to the Union,
a group of Freemasons met to form a lodge in the then West End of
Richmond which was just east of the present Belvedere St. This meeting
was held in Metropolitan Lodge No. 11's hall with a great many members
of
Richmond No. 10 in support. The results were a petition to
the Grand
Lodge on the nineteenth to charter "City Lodge" under dispensation.
However, the following was in reply:
The Grand Lodge of Virginia
To all whom these presents may concern, Greetings:
Whereas,
it hath been duly represented to me, that in the City of Richmond, and
the State of Virginia, there reside a number of brethren of the Ancient
and Most Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, who are
desirous of being authorized to proceed forthwith to work as a Regular
Lodge, and it appearing to be for the benefit of the Craft in general,
as well as the aforesaid Brethren in particular, that they should be
encouraged in their laudable endeavors and designs:
Therefore, Ye Do Hereby Know, that I,
Edward H. Lane
Grand Master of Masons, in and for the State of Virginia,
By
virtue of the power and authority in me vested, during the Recess of
the Grand Lodge, do hereby nominate and appoint our trusty and well
beloved Brothers John F. Regnault as Master, Wm. E. Tanner as Senior
Warden, and Jas. A. Scott as Junior Warden, together with all such true
and lawful Brethren as may be permitted to associate with them, to
assemble and work as a Regular Lodge in the City of Richmond aforesaid,
by the designation of Joppa
Lodge, and there to enter Apprentices, pass
Fellow Crafts, and raise Master Masons, agreeably to the customs and
usages of Free and Accepted Masons, and the Ordinances and Regulations
of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, but not otherwise. And I do
hereby require and enjoin the Master and Wardens aforesaid, to make due
return of this Dispensation, and a copy of all the proceedings had
thereunder, to our Grand Lodge, at the next Grand Annual Communication
to be holden in the City of Richmond, on the second Monday in December
next ensuing, until which time the Dispensation shall continue in full
force and virtue.
Given under the hand of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the seal of the Grand Lodge of Virginia,
this 12th day of July, AL 5867, AD 1867.
John Dove, G. Secretary
It
was at the suggestion of Rt. Wor. John Dove that the name was changed
from ''City" to "Joppa". Our original sixty-three members
adopted
a membership fee of five dollars and monthly dues of fifty cents, which
were collected at our stated meeting on the fourth Thursday.
It
should also be noted that our first master and twenty-eight other
petitioners were from Richmond No.10, and that Metropolitan No.11
provided us with a meeting hall until we jointly entered St. Albans
Hall at Third and Main Sts. with No. 11.
On
December 10, 1867, by order of Mt. Wor. William Terry, Grand Master,
and by vote of the Grand Lodge, we were chartered "Joppa Lodge, No.
40". It is interesting that the number 40 had been previously
assigned, in fact twice, each lodge having dissolved. It was
then
the practice to reassign lodge numbers to avoid "empty slots" in the
numerical sequence. Such is the much abbreviated beginning of
our
beloved Joppa.
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